George Zimmerman is auctioning the gun he used to kill Trayvon Martin

First auction site yanked sale, but a second site has now listed the pistol used in notorious 2012 killing; Zimmerman says cash will be used to fight Black Lives Matter movement

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Sanford police officer Timothy Smith holds up the gun that was used to kill Trayvon Martin, while testifying during George Zimmerman's murder trial in Seminole circuit court in Sanford, Florida, in 2013. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:21am, 13 May 2016Updated: 9:21am, 13 May 2016

The Florida man who shot and killed black teenager Trayvon Martin, triggering nationwide civil rights protests, put his gun on a second auction website on Thursday after it was dropped by a firearm auction site that said it wanted no part in the sale.

The one-day auction of George Zimmerman’s pistol initially had been scheduled to start at 11am, with a minimum price of US$5,000. But the website, GunBroker.com, said in a statement that it had rejected the user-generated listing created late on Wednesday and had no relationship with Zimmerman.

“We want no part in the listing on our website or in any of the publicity it is receiving,” the statement said.

George Zimmerman, acquitted in the high-profile killing of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, listens in court, in Sanford, Florida, during a 2013 hearing. Photo: AP

Zimmerman told the Orlando Sentinel the auction site was not prepared for the web traffic and publicity surrounding the sale. He said the gun was for sale at unitedgungroup.com with the same US$5,000 starting bid, according to the newspaper.

In the earlier auction listing, Zimmerman had described the Kel Tec 9mm pistol as “a piece of American history.” He told a local television station it was his to do with as he pleased, despite receiving death threats over his plan to sell it.

“What I’ve decided to do is not cower,” he told Orlando broadcaster WOFL. “I’m a free American. And I can do what I like with my possessions.”